Chapter Five #3
He reassured himself that it was for the good of their child as much as anything. A contented mother would be a better mother, and he wanted his child to have their mother in their life. To never know the bitter pain that had lived in him.
That was the most emotion he was willing to acknowledge because the last thing he wanted was for emotions to be part of the equation.
And they weren’t. He’d proposed marriage because he’d known instinctively it was what the situation demanded, not because of any desire to rescue her, or because knowing for certain that his child grew in her stomach had unleashed a fierce urge to claim her as his.
He didn’t like the thought of marrying any more than he had before.
His stomach writhed with unease at bringing Serena into his orbit, where hurt was not just a possibility, but a reality, especially after everything she’d already been through.
Paradoxically, that was the best way for him to protect her and their unborn child.
That was the reason—the only reason—he felt such desperation for her to agree to be his wife.
And he had considered the situation at length, with his customary focus and attention to detail, figuring out how it would work, how he would paint clear and thick boundaries between them.
Even once she was his wife, he would hold Serena at arm’s length the same way he did everyone.
They would only interact wherever and whenever was necessary, and if it granted his child the emotional security that he had been denied, then that was what mattered most. The greatest thing he wished was for them to be whole and happy and loved and to know they were wanted.
All of the things that he himself had yearned to know but never been sure of.
It was why he had awoken that morning even more aware of the importance of Serena agreeing to the marriage, and even more resolved to do whatever it took to ensure that outcome.
It was with that determination powering his body that he alighted from the car and strode up the path to Serena’s flat, his movement faltering as he saw the front door was ajar and he detected raised voices from within.
His first and only thought was of Serena’s safety, and without hesitating, he shouldered his way inside, every inch of his body primed to intervene in whatever was happening, before he slowed to listen to the heated argument in progress.
‘They are my brother and sister. You have no right to keep us apart. They need me,’ Serena cried. ‘They’ve already lost their mother and father, the last thing they need is to lose me too. You have no idea what kind of negative impact this could have on them.’
‘I don’t see any negative effects of them being spared your vile influence,’ hissed a cold female voice in response.
‘Really, what kind of example are you, Serena? As if being pregnant out of wedlock again isn’t bad enough, but to be pregnant from a fumble with someone you barely knew…
It’s shameful. It is definitely not the example I want Kit or Alexis to be exposed to, and it’s not something I want to be associated with either.
You knew the rules, Serena. And you chose to break them.
You brought this on yourself. I wish I could say that surprises me, but you’ve always been headed for this kind of disgraceful, scandalous existence, and I will not let you drag Kit and Alexis down with you.
I tried my best to steer you towards a better path, but… ’
‘Nothing you ever did was to try and help me,’ Serena fired back, just as Caleb, having heard enough to understand exactly what was going on, stepped into the room, his protective instincts firing even harder.
His sudden presence disturbed the taut, hostile air, and both women turned abruptly to look at him.
‘Caleb…’ Serena paled, blinking rapidly. ‘Now isn’t really a good time,’ she pleaded, the emotional tremble wracking her voice causing even more unfamiliar feeling to strain within him. Not just to protect, but to comfort. To reassure her that she hadn’t done anything wrong.
‘I can see that.’ He stepped to Serena’s side, casting his eyes across her face quickly and reading the full depth of her distress.
Something sharp seared across his chest as he did, the instinct to raise his hand to her cheek and stroke away all the pain rising within him.
He resisted, obviously, swivelling his eyes to fix his attention on the other woman instead. ‘You must be Serena’s stepmother.’
‘Marcia Addison,’ she replied imperiously, and with more courtesy that he knew he would have received had she not immediately been struck by his aura of power and wealth.
She had been absorbing every detail of his person since he’d stepped into the room.
He hadn’t missed her eyes dusting over him, noting his custom-made suit, Italian handcrafted shoes and limited edition watch.
‘It’s lovely to meet you at last.’ Supressing the anger still bubbling over the cruelty she had shown Serena, he sent her his most charming smile. ‘I’m Caleb Morgenthau. Serena’s fiancé.’
Her eyes widened, her eyebrows flying up into her hairline. ‘Her… I’m sorry…her fiancé?’
‘Yes,’ he confirmed silkily, slipping his arm around Serena’s waist to draw her tightly into his side.
Serena tensed, but his secure grip neutralised her attempts to wriggle away, and the pleasure of how snugly she fitted against him infiltrated his mind and body with far too many sparks.
Unbidden, memories of their night together flooded his brain—heated flashes of their seeking, open-mouthed kisses, their bodies kneading hungrily together, her flesh welcoming him—and an inferno of heat exploded in his core, but he clung to his focus.
‘Please accept my apology for you only just this moment finding out, but I insisted on Serena and I sharing the news together in person, and business kept me from London until yesterday. That may, however, have been a mistake as it seems our happy news has caused some friction within your family.’ He made sure to meet the woman’s eyes, summoning all of his commanding power into his gaze.
‘I’m sure it’s nothing more than a misunderstanding, as surely you, and anyone else who cares to look, can see there’s no scandal here.
Just a young couple who’ve fallen in love in a whirlwind relationship and are starting their life together.
’ He gazed down at Serena the way he imagined a besotted man might, and it was far easier than he’d thought as his eyes indulged in her bright amber gaze and full, inviting mouth and a smile drew naturally across his lips.
Mine, he thought, shocked by the possessive force of the thought.
‘There’s certainly no reason for anyone to have questions over Serena’s propriety.
And whilst I completely understand and respect your desire to protect your children from harmful influences, there are none here.
Unless you consider joy and happiness to be harmful. ’
‘Well…of course not…’ Marcia replied falteringly.
‘Excellent, so there’s no reason for there to be any further talk of Serena being a bad influence, and definitely no reason for three siblings who love and rely on each other very much to be kept apart any longer. Is there?’ he demanded, daring her from behind his charm to defy him.
Her mouth thinned, tightened. ‘If you are in fact getting married and starting a respectable family…then, no,’ she agreed, reluctance underwriting her every word. ‘There is no problem.’
‘Perfect.’ Caleb beamed, enjoying watching her almost choke on the words and catching a hint of a smile on Serena’s lips too.
‘Now, we would love to share this news with Kit and Alexis ourselves, so how about we arrange a visit for once they’ve finished school this afternoon?
And as for the wedding,’ Caleb continued, not offering her any chance to respond, ‘it’s planned for this weekend, in the South of France.
It’s set to be an extraordinary day, but please don’t worry about the arrangements, I will take care of everything. ’
‘I look forward to it,’ murmured Marcia, her skin losing colour rapidly. ‘Now I had best be going.’
‘I’ll walk you out,’ Caleb offered, gesturing for Marcia to precede him out into the hallway.
‘I’d like to think I can rely on you to quash any further talk of scandal, Mrs Addison?
I would hate for my fiancée’s reputation to be impugned for no reason, and should I find out that people were talking of her in such a way, I would have to take quite drastic steps in response.
That is a husband’s prerogative, after all, to protect his wife from anyone who means her harm.
Anyone at all,’ he added, firing a pointed look that there was no chance of her misunderstanding
‘I’m sure that won’t be necessary,’ she demurred.
‘I hope not,’ he said, seeing her into the street and smiling as she walked away, deflated and defeated, because victory was such a sweet taste, and a double victory…well, that was double the sweetness.
‘What the hell was that?’ Serena demanded, rounding on Caleb with temper blistering in her eyes as soon as he walked back through the door.
From his superior height, Caleb regarded her calmly, almost smugly, from eyes that blazed victorious. ‘I think that the words you’re looking for are thank you.’
‘Thank you?’ Serena parroted on a giant breath of disbelief. ‘Thank you? You actually expect me to be grateful for the way you just railroaded me into a marriage that I hadn’t agreed to.’
‘I think you should be grateful that I just put your stepmother back in her box and enabled you to keep having a relationship with your siblings and to see them as soon as this afternoon.’